Lock for bottle and jars.



L. M. MILLS.

LOCK FOR BOTTLES AND JARS.

APPLICATION FILED on. 21. 1914.

L 1,155,947. Patented 001;. 5, 1915.

[120 4 M Mum.

LLOYD M- M L QM BPL I N W NSlt LOCK non BOTTLES nn Jens.

Application filed October 21, 1914. Serial No. 867,805.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, LLOYD M. MILLs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Appleton, in the county of Outagamie, and State oflVisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Looks forBottles, and Jars, of which the following is a specifi- I cation.

- An object of the invention is to provide a lock for use on bottlesorjars and which, when applied to a bottle or jar, will prevent theremoval of the contents ofthe bottle and will constitute an effectiveseal to prevent fraudulently tampering with the bottle and its contents.

The invention contemplates, among other features, the provision of a.locking device which can be quickly applied to a bottle or jar to notonly hold and seal the stopper in the neck of the bottle but alsoprevent removal thereof until the locking device is unlocked and removedfrom connection with the bottle or jar.

Still further objects of the invention reside in a lock which can beused for bottles or jars of various sizes, particularly in connectionwith bottles having the lips on the necks thereof of different lengths.

In the further disclosure of the invention reference is to be had to theaccompanying drawings, constituting a partof this specification, inwhich similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in allthe views, and in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary perspective view of a bottle, showing mydevice applied thereto; Fig; 2 is a vertical sectional view of thestructure shown in 1; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on theline 33 in Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation of the lock,parts being broken away to disclose the underlying structure. I

Referring more particularly to the views, I disclose a bottle 10 havinga neck 11 provided with a lip 12 at the mouth of the neck, the usualstopper or cork 13 being provided for insertion in the neck to close thesame and seal the bottle.

A plurality of hingedly connected semicircular plates 14 each have anintegral top extension 15, with the extensions adapted to overlap acrossthe top of the bottle when the plates 14 are arranged to encircle theneck,-

each one of said extensions being adapted to bear against the cork orstopper 13, as

Specification of Letters Patent.

P n ed 5, i 15.-

shown. Each of the plates 14 is provided with a series of semi-circularrecesses 15 formed on the inner face of each plate,--with each recess inone plate adaptedto aline with each'recess in the other plate so as toform a continuous recess when the plates are in encircling position onthe bottle.

A locking ring 16 consisting substantially of a plurality of hingedlyconnected" sections 17 is adapted to encircle the neck 11 of the bottle,and when the plates 14 are arranged to encircle the neck,"said lockingring is adapted to extend into one of the continuous recesses formed bytheplates when they are'in encircling position on the bottle, thearrangement of said ring into one f said recessesdepending upon thelength of the lip 12 so that if the lip is ashort lip the ring isarranged in the uppermost recess whereas if the lip is a long one thering is arranged in the lowermost recess formed by said plates. It willbe seen that the ring will closely encircle the neck and when fittedinto one of the recesses will, upon an upward movement of the encirclingplates, engage the under side of the lip and prevent removal-of theplates and angle an upward direction fromthe bottle.

In order to lock the pivotally connected plates 14 after they have beenarranged to encircle the neck of the bottle, there is provided a lockingelement 18 which is mounted to swing upon one of the plates 14 and whichhas a shank 19 provided with a series of teeth 20. The shank 19 isadapted to pass through an opening 21 formed in a casing 22 upon theother plate 14, a suitable key operated lock member 23 being arranged inthe casing 22 to cooperate with the shank 19 and lock the same in thecasing, said lock member 23 consisting substantially of a pawl 24pivoted in the casing to engage the teeth 20 of the shank 19,-said pawlbeing operated by a key-actuated member 25 preferably engaged by aspring 26 and whereby said pawl 24 will normally engage the teeth 20 andlock the shank 19 in the casing to hold said plate 14 against relativemovement. The shank 19 is preferably made pivoted and in applying thedevice to a bottle, after the cork13 has been arranged to close themouth of the bottle, and the ring 16 has been arranged to encircle theneck of the bottle and fit into one of the recesses of the pivotallyconnected plates, said shank is arranged to pass through the opening 21in Cit the casing 22 as the plates are swung into encircling position onthe neck, thus causing the pawl 24: to engage the teeth of the shank andlock the shank in the casing until the member 25 is actuated by a key toremove the pawl 24: from engagement with the shank and thus permit ofremoving the shank from the locked casing.

With a simple structure of the character described it will be seen thatthe bottle will be securely locked so that persons cannot tamper withits contents and whereby the contents of the bottle cannot be removeduntil the locking device is first removed from the bottle. It will alsobe seen that the locking device can be used with bottles having lips ofvarious sizes so that the looking device can be used with a bottlehaving a small or large lip, it being simply necessary to arrange thelocking ring in accordance with the length of lip so that the lockingring will abut against the under part of the lip and thus prevent upwardremoval of the hingedly connected plates from the neck of the bottle.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A lock for bottles comprising a plurality of hingedly connectedplates adapted to encircle the neck of a bottle, said plates havingformed on their inner faces a series of semi-circular recesses, witheach recess in one plate adapted to aline with each recess in the otherplate to form a continuous recess when the plates are in activeposition, a locking ring consisting of a plurality of hingedly connectedsections, said locking ring being adapted to encircle the neck of abottle and bear against an enlarged portion thereof, with said lockingring fitting into the semi-circular recesses of the plate, a lockingelement on one of said plates, and a casing on the other plate andprovided with an opening through which said locking element is adaptedto eXtend whereby to hold said plate against relative movement.

2. A lock for bottles comprising a plurality of plates adapted toencircle the neck of a bottle, said plates having recesses therein, alocking ring encircling the neck and received in the recesses of theplates, extensions on said plates and adapted to extend across the topof the bottle, a locking element on one of said plates, an aperturedcasing on the other plate and adapted to have the locking element extendtherethrough, and an eccentrically mounted spring pressed locking meansin said casing and adapted to cooperate with the said locking element tohold said plates against relative movement.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LLOYD M. MILLS,

Witnesses R. E. Comvcnoss, MABEL SIBLEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

